In a conventional managed information system, such as a storage area network (SAN) operable to coordinate access to mass storage devices by a set of users, the network (SAN) interconnects a plurality of conventional mass storage device nodes and related hardware and/or software components, collectively referred to as manageable entities. The storage area network includes a variety of such manageable entities for providing mass storage retrieval services to users, such as storage devices (e.g. disc drive arrays), connectivity devices (e.g. switches and routers), and conventional host computers for executing software components called agents for monitoring and controlling the manageable entities (nodes) in the storage area network. The resultant infrastructure, therefore, for monitoring and controlling the storage area network, defines a complex array of nodes and interconnections.
In a conventional storage area network, a network management application includes a control center application for managing the manageable entities in the storage area network. The control center application includes a server for interrogating and manipulating the manageable entities, and a console having a graphical user interface (GUI) for operator/user interaction. In a typical conventional storage area network, the manageable entities may occupy a common site, such as a raised floor machine room. Accordingly, the control center server and console typically occupy adjacent locations so as to minimize latency and interconnection.
The conventional control center provides substantial monitoring and control ability of the manageable entities. Therefore, it is desirable to assign privileges to potential users such that potentially damaging or intrusive operations are limited to a subset of users. Accordingly, a typical conventional storage area network limits control center access to privileged operators having substantial knowledge of the SAN infrastructure. Management access to the control center and manageable entities is limited to the group of experienced SAN operators. Access by other, more infrequent or less experienced users, is either restricted or limited to a benign subset of control center operations and functions.
However, as the control center is proximate to the corresponding manageable entities, operator presence is required to manipulate sensitive and/or privileged SAN operations. Staffing issues of such privileged operators may interfere with off hours manipulation of SAN operations. If privileged operations are needed to support mission-critical efforts, on-site operator presence is required or productivity may suffer from the time lag required to locate a privileged operator.
In a management application such as the control center, selective remote access may be employed to provide timely, pinpointed support for unexpected and/or off hours needs. Further, less privileged remote access may be desirable for users requiring only benign operations, such as read-only queries. However, typical conventional management applications are built on a relatively large object (e.g. software component) model, or library. Such object libraries typically include large numbers of software components in source languages such as C, c++, JAVA®, HTML, and others. Accordingly, remote access raises issues of portability and resource capability from at the remote location. Further, the notion of multiple concurrent users presents blocking and semaphore issues to maintain integrity and avoid potential corruption. Also, a duplicate or parallel system creates code maintenance and consistency issues between the multiple versions of the application.